


The Game

by kittychat_ladybug



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 11:26:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5741944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittychat_ladybug/pseuds/kittychat_ladybug
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*Also originally posted on my Tumblr based on my weird dream*<br/>An insane game of tag that Marinette and Adrien are forced to compete in. Even better, the game is based off of the heroes of Paris, Ladybug and Chat Noir.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Game

The game had started out normal enough. It was a game that had actually become pretty popular since the two superheroes of Paris had been spotted. Two teams were divided up into “Chat Noirs” and “Ladybugs”. Each team member was marked by either a black mask or a spotted red one. Then, the object of the game was for one team to get the other out by tagging all of its members. The last team standing wins. Pretty much like an insane game of tag.

Yes, this was an insane game of tag, Marinette decided as she hid behind a box. Her school had gone overboard for the annual Ladybug/Chat Noir tag game (this was only the second year they were doing it). It felt like they were in some laser tag or paintball place instead of their gymnasium. Boxes of various sizes littered the ground, providing places to hide. Some people had actually crawled on top of them to sneak attack the other team. But Marinette… She was just hiding.

Of course, she had tried to take charge of the Ladybug team earlier. Then Chloe, who had wanted to be on the Ladybug team rather than the other with her beloved Adrien, devised some crazy plan and got all of the team members to go with her. From what Marinette could hear, almost all of them were taken out by the Chats. She had to groan when she heard Chloe shrieking about how the other team had cheated.

The game couldn’t end this way. Not with Marinette hiding behind a box while the Chats (she really wanted to groan at that as well) picked off her teammates one by one. She was Ladybug after all- the real one behind the flimsy red paper mask. So even without her yo-yo and even without her trusty sidekick, she was going to fight.

***

Adrien wished he could actually be Chat Noir while playing the tag game. Of course, they were winning, but occasionally after tagging an enemy player out, he’d forget he was Adrien and had a way he was expected to act. He’d whoop with victory and look around to find Ladybug to make the pun on the tip of his tongue. Then, he’d only see classmates with black paper masks staring at him with wide eyes and his smile would falter. It wasn’t necessarily the enthusiasm that would surprise them; just that it was coming from Adrien. Quiet, kind, never wanting to rub winning in someone’s face Adrien.

Oh, how he wished Nino was playing. But Nino had offered to help Alya film the entire thing for the Ladyblog. They’d gotten permission from the school to put it up on the website to help advertise the event. The headmaster hoped it would become a community activity next year.

Not even Marinette was on his team. Sure, she was always strangely nervous around him (he hoped he didn’t say something to offend her), but that didn’t mean he didn’t consider her a friend. So, Adrien was on his own as he continued with the game. And he was good at it, too. It was half-named after him after all. He would easily sneak up on Ladybugs and tag them before he was even seen. A few times he was accused of cheating because of how well he blended into the shadows. He was in his element.

***

People thought the game was close to over. Some of the Chats had gotten out, but only a few Ladybugs remained. They thought the Chats had it in the bag (haha get it cats out of the bag) when someone from the Ladybug team came leaping in as if she was actually Ladybug. Alya couldn’t believe her eyes. It was Marinette. She would leap across the boxes, cartwheeling over people and tagging them as she went.

The Chats wouldn’t even register what was happening before they were told they were out by the gym teacher. And no one could catch her. The more people she tagged, the more attention she caught. But she was faster and had soon taken out most of the Chats on that side of the gym. When Marinette finally jumped down from the boxes, she found it was strangely quiet. Was the game over? No, the gym teacher would have blown his whistle and announced the winners. That must mean the remaining players were on the other side of the gymnasium.

See, the gymnasium was split up into two parts. Each team had begun on a different side in the sea of boxes. The two sides were separated by a wide open space in the middle. It was a spot where many people had been tagged out so Marinette had avoided going there. She was in her element when she was leaping over the boxes. She felt she would be defenseless in the middle. But still, she steeled herself and made her way through the maze of boxes.

Marinette felt like Katniss in the Hunger Games going to the Cornucopia. It certainly felt like the whole situation was set up when she made it to the middle to discover three other people making it there at the same time. Her heart sank when she saw it was three Chats- Adrien, Kim, and Max. It also seemed like her heart lifted back up when she saw Adrien smile at her.

“Hey, Marinette!”

Kim, meanwhile was elbowing Max. “It looks like Marinette is the last Ladybug.”

“This’ll be easy. We’ve pretty much won.”

And suddenly, Marinette wasn’t nervous anymore. She felt her blood start to boil like she was facing an akuma. She could not lose.

“Oh, come on guys-“ Adrien started to say. He was interrupted by the blur that was Marinette running past him. Before anyone could react, she leaped over Kim, effectively tagging him. He started to turn around, angry, when the gym teacher screamed that he was out. Max was the first one to unfreeze and started chasing Marinette towards the sides of the open area.

The next thing was as unexpected as what happened to Kim. Marinette ran up the edge of the box and flipped to where she was behind Max. He was out, too.

Her heart pounding, she turned to face the last Chat… Who was strangely smiling at her.

“This just got 10x more fun.” He grinned, starting towards Marinette slowly. Marinette started walking slowly as well and soon the two were circling each other. To Marinette, it looked like Adrien was walking more confidently now. He looked more sure of himself and like he was enjoying himself more now that it was only the two of them left in the maze of boxes. Even to Adrien, Marinette looked like she was graceful and powerful as she took slow deliberate steps around him. Instead of tripping over her own feet like normal, each step looked calculated and strong. With a jump of his heart, he realized she reminded him of his Lady. It made him grin more as he finally pounced.

Ladybug and Chat Noir had never fought before when they were both completely themselves. Everyone at the school later said that if they ever did, the battle between Marinette and Adrien would be what it looked like. Adrien pounced down low, trying to knock her off balance. Without missing a beat, she jumped around him and spun to tag him. Adrien dodged in much the same way and tried to tag her again. It continued like this for quite a few minutes. Like a dance, perfectly choreographed, they moved with a rhythm only gained from having been partners for so long. The outside world slipped away and both continued to move with a smile on their face. They were perfectly content to melt into their hero personas as they playful spun and dodged. But, as if the music suddenly stopped, their dance came to an abrupt end.

Adrien caught Marinette in his arms, hugging her close. Both took rapid breaths, adrenaline still coursing through their veins. Both could feel the other’s heartbeat through their clothes. Both still smiling brightly as they gazed at the other. And, finally, both noticed when the clapping around them suddenly started. Classmates poured into the maze, cheering as the pair jumped apart, faces bright with embarrassment. Something in them pulled their eyes back together for a second, though. It was that something that felt new and different and familiar and comfortable all at the same time. It was that something that caused them to still be able to smile brightly and do what they had done a million times after the fighting was done.

“Mission accomplished.” They said at the same time, holding out their fists to tap it to the other persons. They both froze then, the celebration outside their little bubble fading. They looked past the flimsy paper masks and even looked past their usual selves to see what was truly underneath. And in that moment, everything clicked into place.

“Hey, Kitty.”

“Hello, My Lady.”


End file.
